Moving Forward
by IntoxicatingRomance
Summary: Jane Shepard has just moved to a new home after getting an honorary discharge from the military. With the loss of her husband, Jane's only worry is caring for her five year old son, Sam. Will the small town life be just what she needs to move on from a past that is filled with loss and regret? AU. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"This place isn't _that_ bad..." Jane glanced down at her five year old son. "Right?"

"It doesn't even have a Wal-Mart..." He said stubbornly.

Both of them were standing on the porch of her their brand new home. Jane had just bought it a few weeks ago. It was in a small town called Citadel, and neither of the two were quite used to small towns. Jane sighed and squatted down to make eye contact with her very upset, green eyed son. She ruffled his dirty blonde locks, noting that he needed a hair cut soon, and smiled.

"Sam, baby, I know this isn't like living on the base but can't you give it a try for me?" Sam was quite adjusted to military life, and knew very little about keeping a home for more than a couple months. "Maybe this place is just what we need."

He crossed his arms and bit his lip, his eye-brows knitting together. Jane couldn't stop from smiling wider, god she loved this kid, he was just as stubborn as she and his father was. Her heart fell at the thought of her late husband but she quickly swallowed it down, now was not the time to dwell on that, and blinked the moistness in her eyes away. Sam must've picked up on her sadness anyway because he quickly smiled at her. "Okay Mama, I'll try..."

She pulled him close, and leaned back onto her rear, moving out of the way of one of the hired movers carrying a box. "That's my big man." She whispered softly, kissing his forehead before standing back up. "Now..." Jane put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Let's go unpack your new room!"

* * *

 _The grenades blasted in the background, gun fire was constant, and the smell of burnt flesh filled her senses._

 _"Shepard..." A raspy, pained voice gasped out. "Jane...You have to go..."_

 _"The hell I will!" She pulled him closer, determined to drag him to safety. Her leg burned, she wasn't sure if it was blown open from the blast, or shot. No one saw the grenade but_ _ **him**_ _. She could hear the cries to fall back cutting through the blasts._

 _His firm hand, a hand she loved so much, covered hers. She cried and shook her head before feeling the sting of his hand on her injured cheek. She met his eyes with teary ones._

 _"You can't save us both..." He coughed out, blood spattering on his mangled chest and her face. "You...You have to think of our son, Jane...please...You have to go!"_

Jane sat up in bed with a gasp, tears in her eyes and cold sweat covering her body. She took a few deep breaths before climbing out of her new bed and limping to the bathroom. She turned the faucet and splashed herself with the cool water, she even ran some through her blonde hair. She turned off the water and looked at herself in the mirror. She had a few scares on her right cheek, but they had faded away over the last year.

"I wished that worked as quickly on the inside too..." She sighed and popped a few pain pills for her knee before turning around to go start a cup of coffee. It was barely light outside but she knew that sleep wasn't going to happen. She rubbed her knee, a sharp pain shooting through it.

Today was Sam's first day at school and she wanted to make sure everything went smooth. A knock at the door made Jane jump with surprise and suspicion, but it was quickly overridden when she remembered where she was; Citadel hadn't had any major crimes in over a decade. She opened the door and was shocked to see a little girl staring back. Shepard glanced around quickly, looking for an adult; when she found none she stared back at the raven haired girl.

"Well, hello there, are you lost?"

"Can you make good pancakes like Mrs. Lent?" The girl asked, her brown eyes glaring up at her.

"...Um, Who?" Jane asked, completely lost.

"Mrs. Lent!" The girl repeated, as if that should have cleared it up. "She always made pancakes for me on Monday mornings."

"...Oh!" It clicked, Mrs. Lent must have lived here before Jane. "I see...Well..." She smiled at the girl wearing only a pair of pink kitty pajamas. "I don't know if I can make them as good as Mrs. Lent, but I can give it a try?"

"I can show you how." She stated, walking into the house and heading straight for the kitchen. Jane followed, a soft laugh escaping her at the kid's bravery level. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to walk into a stranger's house?"

"The house isn't a stranger to me, but it is to you." She she started to rummage through Jane's kitchen as she spoke. "So, didn't your parents ever teach you not to buy a stranger's house?" She threw back and Jane crossed her arms, clearly amused. The kid was cute.

"You have a name?" Jane asked, limping over to the cabinet that held the pots and pans.

"Marissa Alenko."

"I am Jane Shepard, Marissa, it's nice to meet you." She pulled out the correct appliances and smiled. "So, let's do this."

An hour later Marissa happily ate a hot pancake next to Sam, who was very confused when he woke up to find his mom cooking with a strange little girl in pajamas. "So...Do the pancakes pass?" Jane asked calmly. When Marissa gave her a thumbs up she cheered, which made both the children giggle.

"How old are you Marissa?" She asked, taking a bite out of her on pancake.

"Nine."

"And do you have parents out there looking for you frantically right now?" As if the universe decided now was the right day to have perfect timing, the door bell went off, followed by loud knocking.

"Uh-oh..." Marissa swallowed her bite and ducked her head as Shepard went to answer the door. She was thrown off by the deep, worried brown eyes that looked at her.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you so early, but did you happen to see- Marissa!" The man let out a relieved sigh and hugged his daughter closely when she came to the door. His black, curly hair was messy and his lack of shoes and shirt proved that he'd left his house in a hurry. "Don't do that!" He scolded her gently his voice deep and raspy, pulling away from her.

"Sorry Daddy, I just came to see the new neighbors and see if she could make pancakes like Mrs. Lent..." He looked up at her again, this time with an apologetic look. Shepard smiled and said.

"I passed the test."

The man laughed softly, straightening himself back up. "Forgive my daughter...She can be a little demanding at times." He held his hand out. "Kaidan Alenko."

"Jane Shepard, but everyone just calls me Shepard." She shook his hand, noticing how warm it was. "Would you like a pancake?"

"No thanks, I actually have to get to work and Marissa has class..." Kaidan glanced down at his daughter, holding his hand out for her. "I'll be sure to keep her out of your hair between sleeping hours from now on." Marissa took his hand and pouted.

"It was no problem, really, she is quite the kitchen helper." Shepard smiled again, leaning against the door frame. Kaidan smiled too.

"She does love to cook...Well, I should get her dressed." He backed away awkwardly. "I should probably get myself dressed too..." He tried to cover himself, though Jane wasn't sure why...He was a very good looking man.

"Right, I guess I'll see you two later?"

Kaidan nodded and gave a wave before she listened to him scold his daughter about barging into peoples houses. She laughed when she heard Marissa say something about wanting her Monday pancakes.


	2. Chapter 2

"Was he cute?"

Shepard scoffed at her friend on the phone. " _That_ is not what you were supposed to focus on Liara..." She shifted the phone slightly, looking out the kitchen window into the yard to see Sam scoping out the tree for his new tree house.

"Well, it is simply to get a better understanding of him." Liara defended. "If he is fit, that means he takes care of himself and has some pride in his appearance."

"Riiight, that's the only reason." Jane smiled. "He was pretty fit for a civilian." She admitted, it had been nearly a week since her encounter with Marissa and Kaidan. Not much more had happened either, this town was famously slow.

"...Was he wearing a wedding ring?" Liara dared.

"Liara..." Shepard warned, not ready to go through this speech again.

"It has been over a year since..." She sighed, trying to be respectful. "He wouldn't want you to waste your life in old memories."

"I am not _wasting_ my life." Shepard hugged herself, trying to keep those bad memories at bay; the ones where she lost one of the most important people in her life. "He was my husband for four years, and the love of my life or nearly a decade..." Her knee started to ache through her jeans, as bombs filled her hearing; she closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. "Excuse me if I think a year isn't long enough to move on."

"...I'm sorry, I just hate seeing you like this." Liara admitted. "Are you okay?"

"Everything's fine..." Her black tank top was starting to feel itchy against her skin as she lied to her friend. "Listen, I have to go help Sam with his new tree house."

"Oh, alright, tell him I said Hello and I miss him. Hopefully I will be able to see you two soon."

"Yeah, I'll tell him and I hope so too...See ya."

"Bye Shepard."

She let out a relieved sigh when she hung the phone up. Jane loved her friends, but sometimes they brought back the memories she tried so hard to keep at bay.

"Mama?" Shepard jumped at the sound of Sam's voice. She turned to see him standing at the entrance to the back door.

"Hey!" She carefully walked over to him, trying to keep the limping to a minimum, and picked him up with little pain. "Aunt Liara told me to tell you that she misses you."

Sam smiled. "I miss her too...When is she coming here?"

"As soon as she gets time off baby, I promise, everyone will come see us." She hugged him for a moment.

"Can we start the tree house now?" His eyes lit up at the idea. Shepard gave a painful smile at how smilar they were to his father's.

"You bet!" She sat him on his feet and laughed as he grabbed her hand to pull her outside, where a pile of wood waited for them.

* * *

"Whoa, look daddy!" Marissa pointed over him from the passenger seat. Kaidan pulled into his drive way and stared at the beginnings of a tree house in the neighbor's front yard.

"Would you look at that..." He mumbled in awe. It didn't look like that when he'd left this morning.

"Can we go help?" She asked with excitement.

"I don't know Mars...You made quite the impressi-" Kaidan jumped when he heard the car door slam then sighed when he saw his daughter running over to the house. He shook his head, smile covering growing on his face; he should probably be more assertive with her, but he just couldn't do it. All she had to do was throw him those puppy eyes, and he went down.

He walked over to the house, catching up with Marissa. He could see his new neighbor hammering away at the end of the nearly complete floor. She gave him a surprise the first day he met her, she was beautiful. Shepard was her name, right? He racked his brain trying to remember but her blonde hair and blue green eyes kept lashing through his mind. He had been meaning to come over with a house warming gift, but kept putting it off because he was not very good at social calls. The other neighbors were talking about throwing her a welcoming party, he should see when that is again. He noticed a little head pop over up and look at them, that must be her son Marissa was telling him about.

"Mama...That girl is coming." Sam was sitting on a tree limb, watching Shepard finish up a few more boards on the floor of his tree house. "And a policeman in with her."

"Policeman?" Jane stopped hammering and crawled over to her son. Sure enough, Marissa was standing at the beginning of her yard and a police uniformed Kaidan walked up behind her.

"Hi there..." He hesitantly called up to her. "My, uh, my daughter wanted to know if-"

"This looks so awesome, can we help!?" Marissa interrupted, already running into the yard to climb up the tree. Shepard grinned, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"The more help the better!" Shepard agreed, helping Marissa up. It was only a six feet off the ground, but plenty high enough for a nine year old girl.

"This is like being on Daddy's shoulders, but way cooler!" Marissa cried in happiness, her brown eyes glittering in the sunlight. She was really cute.

"You can help me hold the nails for Mama?" Sam offered, holding the box up to the older child.

"That is a job for babies, I want to help hammer something!"

Sam looked at the nails and frowned before sitting them down. "Me too Mama, I wanna hammer something!"

"Now, now...I can't have you guys running around with hammers." Shepard put her hands on her hips.

"But I don't want a baby's job!" Sam pouted.

"I don't think that's a baby's job..." Sam looked over to Kaidan, who must have jumped up on his own while she was distracted helping Marissa. He ducked his head when Kaidan smiled at him. "Your mother needs those nails to finish this floor, she must trust you a lot to put you in charge of that."

Jane nodded "You bet I do, he is my best helper." Sam picked up the box again, this time with a smile.

"I guess I can hold the nails some more..." Jane rubbed Sam's head and gave Kaidan an appreciative look.

"Thanks officer Alenko, you sure you don't want to change?"

"Ah..." Kaidan glanced down at himself then laughed. "I suppose I should, and Kaidan works fine when I am off duty."

"I'll keep an eye on the pancake monster while you change..." Jane pointed to the girl currently trying to hammer a piece of wood to the wrong spot. "I'll put her to work, that doesn't go there!"

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, smile in place; which didn't look half bad, she noticed that Marissa looked a lot like him. "Thanks, I'll be right back."

* * *

"So, your dad's the law around here huh?" Jane joked to Marissa as she placed a few boards.

"Yep." Marissa agreed. "Daddy keeps everyone safe."

"What does your mama do?" Sam asked curiously.

Marissa was quiet for a moment before she shrugged. "My mom left a long time ago..." Shepard stopped hammering and frowned.

"I'm sorry to hear that..."

"It's okay, we don't need her anyway." Marissa smiled, probably to hide the pain. "Me and daddy get along just fine." Jane began to stand up , planning on walking over to the girl to comfort her, when a stabbing pain shot through her knee and up here leg. She let out a gasp and fell backwards off the tree-house.

"Mama!" Sam screamed, reaching for her. She was waiting or the ground to collide with her back but got another surprise to feel a pair of hands on on her waist, sliding slightly under her shirt in the attempt to catch her. Her back was pressed against a firm, warm chest as she was lowered to the ground.

"Careful!" His voice was soft, but full of alarm. Apparently Kaidan had wonderful timing.

"Good catch daddy!" Marissa cheered, and Sam looked relieved. "I told you keeps everyone safe."

"Are you okay Mama?"

"I'm fine baby." She turned to look at her savior. "Thanks to you of course." Jane smiled at him.

He returned her smile then quickly pulled his hands away when he realized he still had them on her waist. He had changed into a pair of worn jeans and an old, white tank top. "Well, it wouldn't have been too bad of a fall if I hadn't been around." He was the one to duck his head this time; was he shy? That was just adorable.

"With this leg, it wouldn't have been a walk in the park. Thanks..."

Kaidan just nodded then cleared his throat. "Uh...I guess we should hurry up and finish this floor before it gets dark."

"Right." Jane agreed, carefully climbing back up with Kaidan not far behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

_This isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but it will work for now._

 _I am going to make the next chapter longer and more detailed ~Is determined~_

 _Thanks for your reviews!_

 _It's awesome, you guys rock._

* * *

 _"Shepard..." Voices echoed around her. She looked around but could only see darkness._

 _"John?"_

 _"Are you always so pleasant to be around, or am I just the lucky one?"_

 _Jane stood, taking a few steps toward the voice, a smile creeping on her face. She remembered John saying this, this was one of her first encounter with him; and if she remembered right, it didn't go well. All the sudden she was there, in that memory, she could see herself sitting at the lunch table and staring up at him. Her heart clenched painfully at the sight of his face._

 _"Well, if you would tone down your ego and listen to orders, maybe we wouldn't have this problem." She threw back standing to walk away. That's right, she used to think that John was the biggest jerk of her life...That was so long ago. She watched him frown and glare her direction for a moment, apparently he thought something similar in the beginning as well, but she could also see his eyes change slightly as he followed after her._

 _"My plan would have worked just fine if-"_

 _"If what?" Jane turned to face him, annoyance showing on her face. "If you could sacrifice your whole squad!?" She shoved him slightly, annoyance turning to anger. "Is that what you see your soldiers as, pawns?"_

 _He glared back, ready to fight. "Every soldier knows what is at stake! The mission is all that matters!"_

 _A crowd started to form around them as Shepard let out an angry scoff. "Yes, but_ _ **only**_ _when every other option has been looked at do we jump to suicide missions! The goal is to serve and_ _ **protect**_ _, you selfish prick!"_

 _"Please spare me the 'Hero' speeches, you have to be ready to make the tough decisions in this line of work sweetheart."_

 _Jane's eyes flared to life and her fist clenched tight. "I know damn well what it takes, and if a time comes when death is our only option to save lives then you can bet your ass I will take it." She stepped closer to him, her face inches from his, and stared into his glowing green eyes. "But I am going to do_ _ **everything**_ _in my power to save my people before that moment. Maybe you'd have more friends if you'd give that a try._ _ **Sweetheart**_ _." She shoved him back with her last word and stormed away with John staring after her, agitation clear on his face._

 _She could nearly laugh at the scene now, but at the time she had been furious. She couldn't understand why John was so selfish, or what she saw as selfishness._

 _Just when another memory as about to start, she heard her son._

 _"Mama?" Jane turned to see Sam a few feet away, looking around worriedly._

 _"Sam, I'm over here." She called to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Sam!"_

 _Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by an earthquake. Jane stumbled toward her scared child, but just as she was about to get to him he ran._

 _"Mama, mama where are you!?" He cried, covering his ears as he ran away, trying to escape the unseen danger._

 _"Sam, Sam I am right here!" Jane yelled after him, but it didn't seem to work. The blackness around her slowly faded into a forest as she continued to run after her son's retreating form._

 _"Sam!?" She cried out when he faded away, another rumble going through the ground under her feet._

 _Shepard heard the faint sound of crying and turned to see Sam crouched over himself, his back to her._

 _"Mama!" He sounded so scared, it broke her heart and tears pricked at her eyes. "Where are you?"_

 _"I'm right here baby." She tried once more, jogging toward him._

 _He turned toward her, which gave her relief for a moment, but she soon gasped in horror as flames surrounded him._

 _"_ _ **Sam!**_ _" She screamed, trying to reach him. Voices echoed her name, becoming louder as she got closer. Soon the many voices became one._

 _"Shepard...Shepard, Jane!-"_

"Wake up!"

She let out a cry of surprise when her eyes flew open, sweat sliding down her face. She was outside, light was just starting to take over the sky, and she was currently being held by a half dressed Kaidan.

"Wha-What's...Where's Sam!? I have to save him, I have to...!?"She looked around frantically, trying to make her mind catch up with the rest of her. Her leg sent hot of pain through her, but she didn't care at this moment.

"Hey, hey..." Kaidan's voice was smooth and gently, before she knew it her body was relaxing against his. She didn't know why she was outside or how she had gotten there from her bed, but she was so torn up about her dream that she just wanted to feel something stable. "It's okay..." She heard Kaidan whisper as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head into his neck. Two strong arms slowly, or awkwardly, went around her.

"Sleep-walking?" Jane nearly laughed at the thought. Kaidan was currently making coffee in her kitchen.

"It was a shock to me as well..." Apparently Kaidan was getting the paper while taking the trash out when he saw Jane stumbled out of her door. He thought she was going for the paper, but quickly realized something was wrong. She jogged down her drive way and started to wander down the street. "I usually don't have to chase people until **after** my morning coffee." He joked, trying to make her feel better.

"Well...If you looked like that, I am sure the criminal would swoon and fall to your feet." She motioned to his half dressed form.

"Ah...Yeah, we really have to stop meeting like this." He laughed awkwardly, handing her a cup.

"Works fine for me..." Jane grinned behind her mug when Kaidan gave an uncomfortable cough and she could swear his ears reddened.

"So, uh, what was your dream about?"

Shepard's eyes darkened "I don't remember." she lied.

"Oh, I just thought..." Kaidan could tell when he should stop pushing a subject and took a sip of his coffee before changing the subject. "So how are you liking Citadel?"

"I haven't really had time to explore to be honest." Shepard sighed out, thankful that the subject wasn't pushed. "I'm afraid I am not much of a out-going person lately."

Kaidan leaned against the counter "Then I guess I should warn you about the upcoming welcoming party the block has put together for you." He held back a laugh when she groaned, her head falling forward slightly.

"Thanks for the heads up." Jane sounded defeated.

"It won't be that bad, I'm sure." He tried to cheer her up. She smiled toward him and Kaidan realized that he was out of things to say. It became silent, and he was unsure all of the sudden.

"So, Officer Alenko..." Shepard was the first to break the silence. "What _is_ there to do in this town?"

"Well-"

"Daddy!" Kaidan was hugged around the waist, and almost knocked off his feet by his daughter who looked up at him with relief.

"Hey..." He sat his cup down to swoop her up in a hug, her legs wrapping around him tightly and her arms around his neck. "Shhh, it's okay...I didn't mean to scare you Mars, I didn't expect you up for a bit longer."

"I thought you were gone forever! Don't do that!" She yelled out, but it was muffled by his shoulder.

"Hey, now you know how your dad felt the day you wandered over here." Shepard spoke up. Marissa sniffled against her father but didn't look up. "So maybe next time, you should tell him where you are." She saw a small nod from the child, but she still didn't let go of Kaidan. Shepard frowned, wanting to make her feel better and not just scold her. "So, I am dying for some pancakes...but I can't remember how I made them last time..." She saw her shift her face toward her and grinned at Kaidan with a wink, who rubbed his daughter's back and smiled.

"Yeah, hey Mars, don't you know how to make pancakes?" After a moment she unwrapped her legs from Kaidan and pushed away. He sat her down and she walked over to the cabinet while rubbing her eyes.

"Okay, I remember!"

Shepard clapped her hands together. "Alright, let's get started!" She helped Mars get all the needed appliances, but stopped when she felt a warm hand gently grab her bicep. She turned to Kaidan.

"Thank you for that..." He whispered, trying not to get his daughter's attention.

"No problem, you really scared her there." Kaidan looked guilty.

"Yeah...since her mom left..." He frowned and took a breath before smiling again. "She just has trouble with separation sometimes...from me."

Shepard nodded, giving him the same space Kaidan had given her earlier. She knew when a wound was still too fresh to talk about.

"Jane! I can't reach the eggs!" Marissa called from the fridge.

"Coming, coming." Shepard pulled away from Kaidan and walked over to the child. She pointed back at him. "You think you can man the stove?"

"I think I can handle it." He smirked.

"Then let's make some pancakes."

When Sam woke up he was still confused to find the girl across the street, and now her dad, sitting at his table.

The three laughed when he asked if there were Friday pancakes too.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this took forever...and it isn't any longer like I promised...

I am going to try an update faster, so hopefully the -next- chapter will be longer. THe outline makes it look like it is going to be pretty long, so we will see.

* * *

"So what made you want to be a cop?" Jane asked innocently, clearing the table of dirty dishes. Sam and Marissa had just gotten on the bus and she took the opportunity to clean-up. Kaidan didn't seemed to mind it, even picking up the glasses while she got the plates.

"Well, that is kind of a long story." He admitted. "One I don't really have time for right now..." He still needed to get dressed and it was nearly 8.

"Too bad, I was in a story mood." Jane smiled, not too upset. "Hey, just leave those there and go get ready." She waved him away from trying to was the dishes. "No reason for you to be late over this." Jane was surprised when he didn't budge, her hand landing on his chest firmly.

"It's alright, really, I can be a little late. Besides, we helped make this mess." Jane couldn't help but appreciate his voice as she pulled her hand away, it was deep, but just the right amount of deep, and flowed so nicely with a slight rasp. "...You look like you need to get off that leg too."

She looked down, just realizing she was leaning all of her weight on her good leg. She felt a twinge of embarrassment, she'd probably been hobbling around the whole time. "So does that mean I get my story?" Jane chose to change the subject, but slid into the closest seat. Kaidan didn't press her about it, which she was grateful for.

"Looks like...Let's see..." He started washing a plate while he decided where to start. "I originally wanted to join the Navy, but I never got around to it."

"What stopped you?" Jane was really interested, he could have met him ages ago if he'd have joined. She watched his back while he spoke, he had muscles that moved nicely under his skin. She had to fight back a sudden urge to run her hand up his spine.

"My wife...ah...Ex-wife." Kaidan clarified, drying off a cup. "She was only my girl-friend back then though...She didn't like violence, and didn't want me to leave. So, I stayed."

"You must've really loved her." Jane was lucky enough to fall for a guy that had the same dream as her. Kaidan seemed to pause at that, but quickly recovered.

"Yeah...I had it pretty bad." She was sensing that maybe he -still- had it pretty bad, but wasn't going to ask out loud. "She was my first love, we'd been together our whole lives, I thought we'd be together forever. I'd have done anything for her."

"What happened?"

"...Well, since I couldn't go into the Navy, I took classes so I could become a police officer. She hated that too, but eventually let me have that much. I graduated when I was 22 then found out Rahna, my ex, was pregnant with Marissa. Citadel is a pretty safe place to raise a family...so we stayed here." He sighed out.

"Rahna, huh?"

"Named after her great grandmother." Kaidan put the last dish up and turned to her with a smile. It seemed forced as he continued. "About 4 years ago...I woke up one day to an empty bed. I found a letter on the nightstand." He crossed his arms, maybe to fend off the memory from actually entering him. "She said that she felt trapped, that she needed to...see the world. Asked me to forgive her."

"...What?" Jane was completely thrown off. "Wait, she makes you give up what you want...just to leave you down the road...like that?" She wasn't liking this person in the slightest, and the look that crossed Kaidan's face slammed the last shred of understanding from her body.

"It seems so." He said quietly.

"...I'm sorry." She wanted to say a lot more, but bad-mouthing Marissa's mother and the woman he obviously still had feelings for didn't seem like the right approach. A good approach to her, but she was trying to comfort the man here. He only shrugged his shoulders, another smile in place.

"Mars was the only one I was worried about...She didn't even mention her in the letter." He swallowed hard, his smile falling. "For a second...I thought she'd taken her, but when I found her asleep in her room...I spent the next three hours trying to find someway to tell her without breaking her heart."

"She seems like a really tough little girl, I'd say you did a pretty good job." How could a mother do that? The mere thought of abandoning her son made her nauseous with guilt and fear. Again, he just gave another shrug.

"I'm sorry, seems I brought up a sad subject." He finally laughed, trying to bring back the good mood. It was Jane's turn to shrug and smile.

"I didn't mind at all, but just so you know, this makes us friends now." Her eyes lit up when he chuckled. His laugh was amazing.

"Does it?"

"Yes, I am sorely lacking them here, so I am conscripting you Officer. You have no choice." He'd be perfect since he'd lived here his entire life. He has to know people and places to go.

"Well, I think I can live with that..." The two smiled at each other while a peaceful quiet settled over them.

"Ah...I should go." Kaidan seemed to remember he was running late for work.

"Alright..." Jane stood to walk him to the door, but a shot a ain through her knee had her falling back into her seat. Kaidan's hand around her bicep caught her off guard.

"Careful!" He said once again with alarm.

"Damn this knee..." She grumbled, standing up slowly with Kaidan's help. His hands were really large, and really warm.

"What happened to it?" The raven haired man asked after making sure Jane could stand on her own. The two started to walk to the front door.

"A grenade." She wasn't shocked by his confusion. "Now **that** is a long story, and one that would involve alcohol. Kinda like yours should have..." When Kaidan stood at the entrance, still confused, she sighed. "It's connected to John's...It is how my husband died."

"O-oh, Jane I didn't mean...I'm sorry." He looked so sad and full of pity that Jane couldn't take it. She put on her best smile.

"Don't go worrying over that, don't you have a uniform to put on? We can talk about it later, with that alcohol."

He smiled to, but it was just because he knew she wanted him to. Kaidan was obviously good a reading people. "Alright, maybe after that welcoming party of yours." She groaned at the reminder, which made the man in front of her chuckle again. God, she really liked that.

"Now go...before the neighbors think we are up to no good." She hinted, letting her eyes trail down his body. His ears reddened as he caught on.

"A-ah...Well...I should...yeah." He quickly turned, nearly bumping into the railing next to the couple of steps off her porch. Jane had to hold in a laugh, he was just too easy to mess with. She closed the door and sighed, limping to her pain pills. Why had she told him the truth? She could've made up a story, he looked niave enough to believe her; like a good natured country boy would. The thought of doing that made her feel bad, he'd just told her all about his past relationship and it sounded like it was pretty hard for him to talk about. He deserved the same back. John would've scoffed at that and called her a 'goody-goody'. The thought of him still hurt, and her knee came to life. She covered her face, trying to keep the tears at bay.

That conversation was not going to be an easy one.


End file.
